Snooker: Advani finishes group stage with clean slate

Vatnani impresses with a break of 133 — the highest of the tournament so far

India’s Pankaj Advani was in fine form as he blanked Mike Toth of Switzerland on Tuesday. Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Pankaj Advani blanked Switzerland’s Mike Toth 90-12, 61-17, 78-0, 75-10 to finish the group stage of the IBSF World snooker championship here on Tuesday with a clean slate of six straight victories.

Advani, along with a host of other Indian hopefuls, entered the knockout rounds, which begins on Wednesday.

“I am happy that I have topped the group, but the real test begins now,” Advani said. Joining Advani in the last-64 is fellow Indian Lucky Vatnani, who impressed with a break of 133 — the highest of the tournament so far — in his win over Hong Kong’s Chi Wai Au.

Laxman Rawat, Kamal Chawla, Shahbaaz Adil Khan, Manan Chandra, Rupesh Shah, Brijesh Damani and Saurav Kothari are some of the other Indian men who qualified from group stage.

In the women’s section, Vidya Pillai posted a 85-23, 60-44, 55-26 victory over Neeta Sanghvi to finish her group campaign on a high.

Two-time world champion and group-topper Ng On Yee, who had earlier handed Vidya her only defeat, went through as a direct entry into the last-16.

Yee proved too good for South Africa’s Nicola Illse Rossouw on Tuesday, completing a 65-43, 33-71, 62-61, 80-11 win.

Second-placed Vidya will play another round in her effort to join Yee in the last-16.

Despite having no chance of qualifying, 13-year-old Japanese cueist Keishin Kamihashi pleased onlookers by easing past Finland’s Jani Kananen 55-47, 54-52, 46-34, 63-16. Kamihashi put one in the bag on his final day at the championship, after suffering five consecutive losses in the group stage.

Important results (Indians unless specified):

Men: Laxman Rawat bt Jurian Heusdens (Bel) 09-80, 68-10, 66-37, 55-11, 66-33.

Varun Madan bt Ivan Kakovsky (Rus) 63-40, 72-06, 30-75, 66-52, 77-11; Rahul Ajay Sachdev bt Jim Johansson (Swe) 63-25, 76-16, 74-30, 50-57, 63-18.

Karam Fatima (Syr) bt Yan Bingtao (Chi) 59-51, 70-14, 56-77, 24-77, 66-39, 61-71, 77-32; Shahbaaz Adil Khan bt Ang Boon Chin (Sin) 32-78, 51-66, 81-0, 60-16, 72-0, 58-28; Matthew Bolton (Aus) bt Marwan Alfalasi (UAE) 80-17, 57-41, 67-14,  67-09; Chau Hon Man (HK) bt Manan Chandra 64-63, 88-38, 2-84, 49-59, 59-56, 86-25; Pankaj Advani (Ind) bt Mike Toth (Sui) 90-12, 61-17, 78-0, 75-10; Lucky Vatnani bt Chi Wai Au (HK) 60-22, 94-36, 58-65, 133-0, 45-70, 84-37; Keishin Kamihashi (Jap) bt Jani Kananen (Fin) 55-47, 54-52, 46-34, 63-16.

Women: Wendy Jans (Bel) bt Ip Wan In Jaique (HK) 98-1, 56-26, 77-6; Kathy Parashis (Aus) bt Claudia Zardo Cordeiro (Bra) 63-28, 55-31, 75-0; Arantxa Sanchis bt Akram Mohammadi Amini (Irn) 54-11, 50-3, 53-18; Amee Kamani bt Anastasia Nechaeva (Rus) 51-63, 53-42, 65-28, 59-48.

Ng On Yee (HK) bt Nicola Illse Rossouw (RSA) 65-43, 33-71, 62-61, 80-11; Vidya Pillai bt Neeta Sanghvi 85-23, 60-44, 55-26; Judy Walia bt Suniti Damani 68-16, 51-39, 42-29.